Below is a glossary of the terms you may not be sure about now and should understand when taking out a new mortgage. These are not legal definitions but clear everyday descriptions to help you make a more informed choice.
Any examples given are designed solely to simply illustrate the basics of the concept and are not to be taken as anything beyond that.
A lot of mortgage adviser regularly used terminology were banned in October 2004 and replaced by industry standard phrases to help consumers understand things better. The old terms have been included for reference purposes.
No information given here should be taken as advice.
| Land Registration |
The process of registering your title to an area of land with the Land Registry, typically handled by a solicitor. |
| Land Registry Fee |
A charged levied by a solicitor to register ownership of an area of land with the Land Registry. |
| Landlord's Reference |
A reference given by a previous landlord, which confirms an applicant's history of payment of rent and previous conduct as a tenant. |
| Leasehold (England & Wales only) |
A type of ownership in which a person owns a property, but not the land on which it is built. Typically the land will be leased to the owner. |
| Leaseholder |
An individual who owns the lease to a property. |
| Legal Charge |
A document held by the Land Registry detailing who had first claim on your property. Typically the owner will have first claim. |
| Legal Completion |
See Completion |
| Legal Fee |
Charges paid by a solicitor for carrying out various legal work in connection with a property purchase or remortgage. |
| Lender |
The party, typically a bank, building society or mortgage company, offering the loan. |
| Lender's Fee |
A charge levied by a lender to cover the costs of arranging a mortgage. |
| Level Term Assurance |
A life insurance policy that pays out a lump sum should the borrower die during the term of a mortgage. Level term refers to the fact that this sum will remain constant throughout the term of the mortgage. |
| LIBOR linked mortgage |
A tracker mortgage that tracks LIBOR. |
| Licensed Conveyancer |
Someone who undertakes the legal work associated with buying, selling and remortgaging a property. May be used instead of a solicitor |
| Life Insurance |
An insurance policy that pays a lump sum in the event of the death of the policyholder. |
| Lite |
A term used to describe an applicant with very limited adverse credit |
| Loan Consolidation |
See Debt Consolidation |
| Loan to Value Ratio (LTV) |
The proportion of the value of the property that the lender is prepared to loan. This can be up to 100%. E.g. House is worth £200,000 and the mortgage is £120,000 then 120/200 = 60%. The house is said to have 60%ltv |
| Local Authority Search |
A check carried out by a purchaser's solicitor to ensure that the prospective property is not subject to any local authority issues such as road or town planning or any enforcement notices.
The search relates only to the property that is being purchased and does not cover the surrounding area. If you are concerned about anything that is likely to be built in the immediate area you should always attend the local authority in question and ask to examine their records. |
| Local Authority Search Fee |
The fee payable to the Local Authority for conducting a Local Authority Search. |
| Local Search |
See local authority search |
| London Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) |
The interest rate at which banks in London buy and sell money from each other. |
| Low Cost Endowment (LCE) |
The typical form of endowment. |
| Low Start Low Cost Endowment (LSLC) |
An endowment under which the repayments are reduced at the start of the term but increased later on to make up the difference. |
| LTV |
See loan to value ratio |
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
The actual rate available will depend on your circumstances. Ask for a personal illustration.
Think carefully before securing other debts against your home.
There will usually be a fee charged when we successfully arrange a mortgage / re-mortgage. The amount will depend on the complexity of your requirements and your personal circumstances, typically the fee charged will be 3% of the mortgage advance (minimum fee £3,000 up to a maximum of £10,000).
